All or Nothing

This past month our pastor, Rick Ross, has been discussing the topic of being "all in" for greatness. This past week we heard about how the three hebrew children would not bend or bow and as a result they would not burn. They even went so far in their devotion to say that we are all in whether God delivers us or not because He is still God no matter what my status or circumstance may be.

I think that could be one of the hardest, yet most necessary parts of our faith. The ability to put "all" of our faith in God no matter what. It is hard to come to the place in our walk with the Lord that we say, "I will do what's right and trust God to take care of things, but even if He doesn't take care of things I will still do what is right." What if God does not heal us like we thought he would? What if God doesn't keep our house from being foreclosed upon? What if we lose our job? What if our kid turns out to be a drug addict? Will we still say "blessed be the name of the Lord?" Will we still walk with God and put all of our faith in Him? Or will we start to look for other answers and other solutions.

I think that the 3 Hebrew teenagers had already made some hard decisions before they ever were faced with this life and death decision. The reason they had the strength to pass this test is because they had passed all of the smaller ones along the way. They refused to eat the kings food that went against their Jewish diet. They refused to live life the way the others around them were living. These tests prepared them for the day that a king would order them to be thrown into a fiery furnace. 

I always find it a little difficult to hear people say they will give their life before they will ever deny Christ. They think that if the choice had to be made between denying Christ and living, or confessing Christ and dying, they would be able to choose death. Yet when you look at the small everyday 'tests' that are placed in front of them, they fail every time. When it comes between serving their neighbor or doing something for themselves, they always choose their own interest. When it comes between giving or receiving, they always choose the latter. When it comes between sharing their faith and being ridiculed at work, or keeping their mouth shut and being promoted, they will take the promotion every time.

It is very rare that the choice will come to us to be 'all in' or die. But we do face small choices every day that will prepare us in case that time ever comes. So whatever your test is today, go all in.

The Transition Part 2

I said at the end of my last posting that I would like to take the metaphor of musical transitions and relate them to everyday life and so here we go. 

As in music, transitions can be especially crucial in our lives and they can stand out as either an affirmation of or an indictment of our character. I have seen many people live a pretty consistent life only to be tainted by the way they went through the transitions of life. These transitions can take on many forms. For instance it can be the loss of a job and the start of a new one. It can be the end of a relationship or the beginning of a new one. It can be the transition from wealth to poverty or just the opposite. It is important to prepare ourself through spiritual disciplines before we ever even get to the time of transition. In other words, plan how you  will transition before you ever get to the place when you have to actually transition.

I talked about the transition of tempo in music in my last posting. This transition is probably the most common type of transition in our lives. We may go from a time when life seems slow or just moderate to a faster pace. Or we may go from a time of extreme busyness to a more reflective season. There are ways we can plan for these seasons. One way is to practice slowing before life gets too fast for you to do anything about it. Get in the slow lane at the grocery store. Get behind the big truck rather than the little sports car at the stop light. Intentionally make yourself slow down. It is harder than you think.

The other comparison that I want to talk about is the "dynamic" transition. Sometimes life seems really loud. So loud that we can't even hear ourselves think, or more importantly we can't hear what God thinks. So practice slowing, but also practice being quiet. Go somewhere and be alone. Don't speak. Don't pray. Just be there, in stillness and meditation. This will prepare you to hear God's voice when things get really loud.

I don't know if I am getting my point across very well today. What I really want to say is better detailed in the book, "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg. Basically what he says is that we need to prepare ourself for transitions in life before we ever get there through various spiritual practices. After all, many times it is the transitions in life that really end up defining us. 

The Transition

Transitions are so important. Not only in music but in life. So many times we think that we are being measured or evaluated by our performance during the verses and choruses, only to be overshadowed by the mistakes we make during the transitions. Yes, I am talking about music and life here. You can take the metaphor as far as you would like. I am going to try and stick to the music side though for this blog.

As a worship leader, band director, or choir director, it is easy to spend most of our time rehearsing the meat of the music, and then stumble as we enter, end, or transition the song. I always tell the band and choir that the first notes are important because it will let people know whether or not they want to keep listening. The end is important because it can overshadow everything you did up to that point good or bad. Transitions also leave us the most exposed and vulnerable musically. That is why it is always important to spend the time you have making sure you not only play the song well, but that you end it just as well.

A few things to watch out for in times of transition: First, watch out for the tempo or even meter changes. Tempo changes can become the intersection that causes the most crashes mainly because it is something that is inside of the leader and not so much written on a page. It is important for the worship leader to communicate in some fashion the tempo or even the feel that he or she is expecting out of the band or choir. So watch out for those tempo changes.

The second transition that can cause major problems is the key change. It is very important to figure out how you can make as smooth of a key change as possible and still get the punch that a key change gives to music. I went to a church one time and cringed at every key change because it usually took the guitarist a measure or so to realize that everyone else had changed keys. So watch out for the key changes.

Lastly I want to say that we need to watch out for the dynamic changes. By dynamics, I mean the volume changes. Worship happens in swells many times and it is important that everyone ride the same wave. If the worship leader is trying to get quiet and more intimate and the drummer and guitars keep slamming it, then the whole dynamic transition is lost. The opposite is true as well. If the worship leader is attempting to build a dynamic swell and the drummer leaves the cymbals for the high hat, you may end up wiping out. So watch out for the dynamic swells in a worship set.

I know that this blog has been filled with metaphors. I hope that you enjoyed and agreed with each comparison and assessment. May all of your transitions be right!!!

(Next time we can talk about life transitions)

So why submit?

One of the hardest things for us to do sometimes is to submit to the authority that God has placed in our lives. For some reason it seems that we are just wired to rebel. Look at how infants quickly move to rebellion. It seems like they always learn to say no before they learn to say yes. Why do you think that is? I have my theories and as you can imagine, I am now going to share them with you. 

From the moment we are born, we are wired to try and survive. If our body doesn't do all it can to fight off infections and the like, we are considered to be sick because it is not natural for our body to not try and heal itself and live. That is in our unconscious living. In our conscious living, we find that our natural tendency is to protect ourselves and to avoid danger and pain rather than be drawn to it. If someone is drawn to pain or danger, they are considered sick or abnormal. I believe that it is partially (and I mean partially) our survival nature that causes us to rebel against the idea of giving someone else control of our life or someone else the right to have authority over us. We trust ourselves and our intentions towards ourselves. We know that we are always going to look out for our best interest. It is hard to put that responsibility in the hands of another, even if its God. Many of us think that we are submissive when really we are just living in a situation that happens to go with our best interest. It is only when someone asks us to do something that we feel is not in our best interest that our rebellious nature is exposed. 

Whenever people have money to spare, it is easy to tithe. Whenever I have to choose between my cable bill and my tithe, then things get messy. Whenever my boss asks me to work with someone I like doing something I enjoy doing things are great. When he asks me to work with the lazy guy doing something I loathe, my submissive nature has a chance to really be checked.

Why am I saying this? I just wanted to challenge you to ask yourself whether or not you are truly submissive to authority, or just one who seeks out authority that agrees with you. The test of submission only comes when you disagree with the order or the one giving the order. Everything else is just us doing what we do naturally, looking out for our own interest. It is when we are asked to do something against our own interest that true submission is forged. 

Just something to ponder...